evil evil sodium!

kealambert

You may be undereating.

You goal should be to "meet" your calorie numbers, not be "under". Especially if you're working out that much, your body needs fuel. Are you replacing the energy used in the workouts with higher intake?

I purposely have my goal set low .5 lb/week, and I'm set as sedentary because I'm a bank teller (on my feet most of the day, but not moving much), so my calorie intake is typically right on par. my workouts range from 600-1200 cals/session, which makes meeting those gaps very hard, especially if i work out later at night.

long answer is: sometimes I meet it, sometimes I don't, haha. I have such a hard time getting the gap filled on those days, but on the non-intense workout days, I struggle to stay at/under my goal.

kealambert

Sodium is not going to kill you. You need some in your diet to live. and you need more if you are sweating a lot. And honestly, the way MFP encourages people to guzzle water beyond what is needed, many folks are probably not getting enough sodium.

The only people who need to worry about sodium are those with medical issues like kidney problems or high blood pressure.

my concern is water retention, though...does that not matter?

jacksonpt

Sodium is not going to kill you. You need some in your diet to live. and you need more if you are sweating a lot. And honestly, the way MFP encourages people to guzzle water beyond what is needed, many folks are probably not getting enough sodium.

The only people who need to worry about sodium are those with medical issues like kidney problems or high blood pressure.

my concern is water retention, though...does that not matter?

Not really, no.

Krissy_b777

In most of my note sections in my diary, I have "damn sodium!!" . It is hidden in alot of food we eat. You really have to prepare your own food these days and use Mrs. Dash or some other no-sodium spice or seasoning. When I had heart problems, I could not have any salt. So, I need to go back to that same discipline.

abnerner

Stay away from food from boxes and bags (ie pasta-roni, rice a roni, fast food, etc) and Soy Sauce (even low sodium is highhh)

Drink lots and lots of water, flushes it out!

CalJur

If you're hydrated, if your urine is light, if you get sweaty often, you do not need to obsess over this.

If you already have hypertension, if your doctor has instructed you to keep it below a certain number, I'm not addressing you.

Everyone else, relax, sodium is ok. It's an electrolyte, which you need.

Spot on reply. As a busy professional I eat out a lot and therefore face this issue more often than I wish. While advice here is absolutely correct it can't hurt to try to minimize intake of processed foods. While sodium may be needed too much of anything is never good for you. Moderation is the key.

NoAdditives

Eat more fruits and vegetables. Make your food yourself. Don't buy pre-packaged foods.

agentscully514

Sodium is not going to kill you. You need some in your diet to live. and you need more if you are sweating a lot. And honestly, the way MFP encourages people to guzzle water beyond what is needed, many folks are probably not getting enough sodium.

The only people who need to worry about sodium are those with medical issues like kidney problems or high blood pressure.

my concern is water retention, though...does that not matter?

water retention shouldn't completely halt your weight loss.

That said, I peeked at your diary, and you are actually eating a lot of high sodium foods. Mostly takeout and prepared foods like ramen. There's plenty of sodium you can eliminate.

ZipperJJ

Your highest sodium items seem to be eating out (Panera, Subway), sauces and bread. A Panera french bread has 1100 grams! Wow!

You should consider making your own bread and then making your own sandwiches for lunch. You can get low salt turkey or make your own tuna salad with no salt.

You can just be more sodium-conscious when looking at labels when you buy sauces. Or make your own.

Sodium IS hard to stay away from. I have high blood pressure so I need to be on the lookout but I still go over my goal all the dang time. I don't eat bread and try to stay away from deli meats, but It's in cheese and I eat a lot of cheese.

kealambert

If you're hydrated, if your urine is light, if you get sweaty often, you do not need to obsess over this.

If you already have hypertension, if your doctor has instructed you to keep it below a certain number, I'm not addressing you.

Everyone else, relax, sodium is ok. It's an electrolyte, which you need.

i drink lots of water, sweat more than anyone I see at the gym...I am under my calorie goals, workout 6 days a week (lifting as well as HIIT and anaerobics), and yet the weight is up, inches are down. My only indication is that I'm retaining water, which I normally hear attributed to sodium intake

Water retention is a normal response to exercise. You are stressing/damaging muscle tissue so the body increases blood flow to those muscles.

Plus, if inches are down, what's the problem? Quit worrying so much about what the scale says... it's a terrible judge of progress.

You're right, I am a hypocrite, lol. I always preach not to 'worship the weight.'

jacksonpt

If you're hydrated, if your urine is light, if you get sweaty often, you do not need to obsess over this.

If you already have hypertension, if your doctor has instructed you to keep it below a certain number, I'm not addressing you.

Everyone else, relax, sodium is ok. It's an electrolyte, which you need.

i drink lots of water, sweat more than anyone I see at the gym...I am under my calorie goals, workout 6 days a week (lifting as well as HIIT and anaerobics), and yet the weight is up, inches are down. My only indication is that I'm retaining water, which I normally hear attributed to sodium intake

Water retention is a normal response to exercise. You are stressing/damaging muscle tissue so the body increases blood flow to those muscles.

Plus, if inches are down, what's the problem? Quit worrying so much about what the scale says... it's a terrible judge of progress.

You're right, I am a hypocrite, lol. I always preach not to 'worship the weight.'

Easier said than done sometimes though, no?

jcpmoore

I noticed in your diary that you do have days of 5,000mg of sodium and frequent days of 3,000 and more. Not likely to kill you or anything, but I can see why you'd want to lower that. Here are my recommendations:

1. Ease off the fast food as much as you can. Panera and Subway are otherwise fairly healthy, but they are high in sodium. If you want a subway tuna sandwich, make it a 6 inch, not 12.
2. When you cook your food with sauces, ease off on the salt. There are tons of ways to add flavor without adding tons of salt. I use a lot of lemon, lemon pepper, garlic, ginger, and other spices. That said, don't skip the salt entirely. A few shakes isn't bad. But know what you're adding to your food.
3. Eat more fruits and vegetables. These don't seem to be very prevalent in your diary. I think you'll find that when you add some sides of fruit and vegetables, those high-sodium entree portions can easily be cut in half. That eases a lot of the issue right there.

HTH

kealambert

You're right, I am a hypocrite, lol. I always preach not to 'worship the weight.'

Easier said than done sometimes though, no?

you said it

kealambert

Sodium stole my lunch and two-timed my sister.

sodium shot my pa